Studio MUKA’s Mid-Century Home in LA Contemplates the Meaning of Home Into Today’s Nomadic World
Paying homage to their Persian and Uzbek roots, co-founders Neda Kakhsaz and Zabie Mustafa reimagine the concept of an ‘ancestral home’
When Neda Kakhsaz and Zabie Mustafa, the duo behind AD100 atelier Studio MUKA found a mid-century home in LA, it was it's potential as a canvas for blending their Persian and Uzbek heritage that they instantly fell in love with. Here they could see a new version of an ‘ancestral home’ taking shape. Sure, this humble San Fernando Valley abode did not evoke evokes images of romantic dwellings in faraway lands – a sprawling English country manor, an antiquated Italian palazzo, a fabulous German castle, but as the duo can ably attest, a true ancestral home need not stretch back multiple generations and centuries. In fact, any home that stores collective memories and honours the lives, spirit, and cultures of one’s forebears qualifies as ancestral.
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A few years ago, Kakhsaz and Mustafa, husband-and-wife partners in the emerging design firm Studio MUKA, found themselves at a personal crossroads, facing the challenge of what to do with the childhood home formerly occupied by Kakhsaz’s late father and mother. “We thought about moving to the east side of LA, closer to our friends and colleagues, but we ultimately decided that my parents’ house was a good place to put down roots,” Kakhsaz recalls. “That decision raised lots of questions and set us on our journey. What happens to a physical space that was filled with so much emotion? How do you give life back to something that is seemingly void? What is the real meaning of home? We had to figure it out,” she adds.
There are, of course, no easy answers to those questions, but the couple seized the opportunity to investigate solutions determined by concept as much as form. “Our mid-century home is a portrait of our collected histories and sensibilities. We wanted to embrace our Persian and Uzbek roots in a way that doesn’t feel like a trope. Our mission was to celebrate the ceremonies and rituals of our ancestral cultures while creating a home that feels revitalised,” Mustafa explains. “We embarked on a mission to pioneer a new vocabulary of contemporary design, drawing inspiration from a host of far-flung influences,” he continues.
Utilizing their mid-century home as a laboratory, Kakhsaz and Mustafa began crafting spaces that simultaneously honour the past, present, and future. In the living room, custom sofas inspired by the traditional seating in Persian tearooms sit low to the floor atop layered vintage Turkish and Persian rugs. A pair of antique hand-carved Nuristan chairs from Afghanistan, similarly low-riding, are joined by a Studio MUKA prototype cocktail table composed of aluminum I beams that support shifting leather-wrapped tabletops – an ensemble that speaks directly to the couple’s vision of modernity married to historical, culturally relevant archetypes. The only artwork installed on the expansive wall above the main sofa is a framed pair of embroidered silk slippers from the wedding of Kakhsaz’s great-grandmother.
In the adjacent lounge and game room, Mustafa painted a mural on the fireplace wall with figures and motifs referencing time-spanning touchstones, from the sculptural reliefs of the Achaemenid Empire of ancient Persia to the early work of pioneering modernist Eileen Gray. Classic 20th century furnishings by the likes of Le Corbusier, Josef Hoffmann, Alvar Aalto, Osvaldo Borsani, and Luigi Caccia Dominioni mingle amicably with the partners’ own compelling furniture designs, demonstrating the elasticity of their vision. Their octagonal Tact games table of red oak plywood and laminate, for instance, echoes the form of traditional Moorish side tables in a thoroughly modern silhouette and materials. “The table allows many people to join in the communal experience. We designed these pieces to nurture the rituals and rhythms of our daily lives,” Kakhsaz notes.
The designers’ reimagining of a quirky 1990s kitchen and breakfast room further illustrates their dexterity in soulful reinterpretation and transformation. The new plywood cabinetry and wall paneling nod to the radical early work of Frank Gehry, while a bespoke art pedestal suggests the influence of Carlo Scarpa. A hanging rail system in the breakfast room allows for easy reshuffling of the artworks on display, providing fresh inspiration and new experiences whenever the mood strikes. “We really looked at the experimental homes of our design heroes,” says Mustafa. “We were particularly interested in their use of furniture as architecture, and their ability to craft fine furnishings with raw, industrial materials.” In the primary bedroom, another custom art pedestal made of stacked cinder blocks makes an eloquent case in point.
One of the most intriguing features of this mid-century home in LA is the freestanding brick fireplace folly that defines the outdoor lounge area, set amid ample fruit trees and foliage. Designed by Kakhsaz’s artist father, the structure represents a living memory of the couple’s immigrant families, much like the wedding slippers in the living room and the antique Uzbek chapan that hangs in the couple’s dressing room. “This home is not an end but a beginning,” Kakhsaz insists. “We think of it as a never-ending experiment, a place for people and ideas to gather and flourish. The walls are permeated with love.”
Studio MUKA’s Los Angeles pad is featured in AD’s June-July issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to the AD newsletter.
Art: Alex Hagentorn. Products: Austin Leis.1/8Vintage Thebes chairs from JF Chen join Palan chairs by Studio MUKA around a bespoke table of walnut and laminate in the dining room. Sculpture on pedestal by Alex Hagentorn.
2/8The kitchen has custom plywood cabinetry with Jordan McDonald Studio knobs, a Mario Botta table lamp, and a Lucenera ceiling light by Catellani & Smith.
Art: Arghavan Khosravi/Avant Arte.3/8A Studio MUKA octagonal Tact table of red oak plywood and laminate is flanked by Josef Hoffmann chairs beneath an Alvar Aalto pendant in the game room. Artwork by Arghavan Khosravi.
4/8A vintage Sedia Alta chair by Mario Ceroli from JF Chen occupies a corner of the primary bedroom. An Alex Hagentorn bronze sculpture rests on a cinder-block pedestal.
5/8A vintage Suzani hangs above a custom platform bed of reclaimed Douglas fir atop a rush rug.
6/8The dressing room features Studio MUKA’s Repoussage copper stools, a bespoke table of plywood and laminate, and a clothing rack and mirror by Verner Panton. An antique Ikat chapan from Uzbekistan hangs on the wall.
7/8A bathroom has a Verner Panton sconce and a Sergio Mazza table mirror. A vintage Uzbek suzani drapes the ceiling and wall.
8/8The outdoor lounge is furnished with a Paul McCobb sofa and chairs along with Robert Wengler wicker armchairs, all reissued by CB2. The brick fireplace folly was designed by Kakhsaz’s father.
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